Tag: email tarot

Readings for readers

Tarot readings for readers

I read AND write.

I’ve been told that my email readings but especially the handwritten, hand illustrated private Tarot readings appeal to book lovers.*

I’m a reader’s reader. My written content is my best work.

I know it. You know it.

Writing is my niche and my talent and my strength.

I’m not going to water that down just for the sake of having a podcast.

Some people learn better from listening. Some people just plain prefer audio.

I know it. You know it.

I just received word that Spotify for podcasters and WordPress are ending the text to speech integration.

Unless and until I find another text to speech option, it is with some regret that I am ending the Sage Sips podcast. I have too much respect for audio learners and audiophiles to give you a second rate Tarot product. I’m not going to half-ass a spoken word recording when I KNOW I can give you significantly better quality content with text-to-speech technology.

If I can find a workable text to speech option, I’ll resume the audio blog. Until then you can find my free week-ahead pathway readings on Mondays on the Sage Words Tarot dot com website, on the Sage Words Tarot blog on ko-fi dot com and on the Sage Sips newsletter on Substack.

All three of those platforms will continue to have a mix of free and premium subscriptioncontent, because none of this is advertising monetized. The blogs and Substack are all reader supported. With me, your Tarot message comes first, not an advertiser’s message. Premium content and private readings are what makes the free blog Tarot readings possible. Private readings are still always available in both email and live formats through the website. No appointments are needed for the email version, by the way.

I am always so grateful for your support. Your purchases help fund the practical part of creating all of this, but your time reading (or until now, listening) to the blog, your likes, your shares, your follows and free subscriptions are why ten or more years worth of Tarot inspiration exists in the world. All of you are why I do this in the first place. Together, we have created a giant pile of ideas, inspiration, art, entertainment and wisdom. Now let’s go create some more.

Podcast people, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for listening in as the podcast changed from Clairvoyant Confessional to TaoCraft Tarot and most recently to Sage Sips. I hope audio will be back, but in the meantime please join us on the blogs for more Tarot readings, behind the scenes and ask me anything.

Blog people – I’ll see you at the next sip.

*I’ve read for other intuitives and professional Tarot readers before. It is always the biggest compliment to be trusted by a colleague like that. “Readings for readers” works for that kind of reader too.

Free Yourself

Healing requires a change of heart and mind

They don’t call it a hook for nothing.

Hello and welcome to Sage’s Short Sips: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m Sage and I’m glad that you are here.

Sometimes, when things go a little wonky, you just pick up the pieces and go on without a second thought. It’s like the upside down or reversed cards we’ve talked about before. Sometimes it feels like nothing so I flip the card and keep going. Sometime the reversal feels significant so I read it as a caution that some aspect of the energy is blocked or turbulent.

The same process applies to making the youtube videos of the real world card draw that inspires all of the short sip posts and pods. Sometimes things get clumsy or stuck filming the card draw for the day. Most of the time I just scoop up the cards and re-do it so it fits into a 15 second tiktok or youtube short. Today I was the stuck one instead of the two cards that stuck together for this video. I thought about scooping up the cards and re-shooting, but I felt stuck on this and got a niggly little feeling that the other card…both cards together really… might be important.

Today we get the eight of swords PLUS the eight of cups.

The second card surprised me by being an eight card too. Getting two eight cards back to back feels significant. It might just be validation that the two cards are indeed connected and working in together for today’s message, but it feels bigger than that. Eight isn’t ringing any bells for me personally. What about you? Anybody with an August birthday? Anyone connecting to any August event: a birth, death, or any anything from any August in the past? Any connection with the eighth of any month? Any eight connection at all with the number 8 that lights up for you?

Is that vague and stage cold reading enough for you? Anybody and everybody can probably drum up some connection with either the number 8 or the month of August. All of these suggestions are the standard, banal, boilerplate interpretations of repeating numbers in a Tarot reading. I only mention it because it feels important to the collective energy part of this reading. Like everyone on the planet, I can think of a connection for me with August…so trust me. Your gut will undoubtedly know if your 8 or August connection is energetically significant or not. You’ll know if this is something meaningful that you should pay attention to, or if it is just coincidental B.S. that you can brush right off.

That, I suspect, is where all the scammy hype rip-off Tarot readers and psychics go off the rails by making some big, ego-inflating deal out of common coincidence rather than supporting your individual intuition.

Don’t listen to me, don’t listen to the cards. Listen to your own instincts. The cards, and my role as a reader is just to support your understanding with a few little nudges, creative prompts and lots of food for thought. In the end, your thinking matters more than any coincidences that might come along to fuel it.

Which brings us circling right back around to the the two-card message for today.

Swords have to do with mind, intellect and action. I’m reminded of a line from some 90s song “free your mind, and the rest will follow.” It was some pop song girl group, and I don’t remember a single thing else about it other than that one lyric, but that one line has always stuck. They don’t call it a hook for nothing. This is the message from the 8 of swords today. The card is talking about freeing your mind.

The figure on the card is surrounded by swords and blindfolded. One of the key ideas of this card is that freedom is still possible even when the odds seem stacked against you. The key is to use creative problem solving. In this Pamela Smith card image, the figure’s feet are bare but unbound, and there is a gap in the swords encircling the person. They’d have to be really, really REALLY careful but they could feel their way to freedom given enough time. There would be a price to pay in shallow cuts, but the freedom is possible with the right action.

The eight of cups is connected to emotions more than the cutting intellect and precise careful action suggested by the eight of swords. The eight of cups is about the bittersweet moving on from heartbreak into the future, from emotional devastation into emotional healing. Sure – there were good times. Sure – there were painful times. But sometimes the only way forward is through, and the only way through is to let the past go.

Now put both cards together – free your mind AND free your heart. For true freedom, both mind (attitude, understanding) and heart (feelings, intentions) have to change AND move on from the old ways. Both cards imply movement from a bad situation toward a better future.

Thank you all so much for reading and listening today. I hope everyone, including podcast listeners will follow the free blog, as I always have some blog only content in the works. You can opt in by putting your email in the box in the right hand column of the blog website (link is in the episode description for podcast folks). You can unsubscribe at any time, although obviously I hope you won’t. Instead of unsubscribing, send a blog comment. I use the feedback to improve things or get content ideas. So thanks in advance for any comments, questions, likes, subs, follows or shares that you can spare.

The blog, podcast and youtube channel are not monetized in any way and depend on audience support. Please visit the Ko-Fi page where your shop purchases, no appointment needed email tarot readings, memberships and virtual coffees all help me to bring you this free to access Tarot content.

Thanks again! See you at the next sip!

Going full wizzywig

Please feel free to browse the website. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.

Hi. This is just a quick follow up to yesterday’s late night post about the NEW CrystalCast reading. I only recently came up with the idea for this part crystal, part runestone, all scrying, pure intuition, just for fun, look at the week ahead reading. You can see the whole post and watch the video of the actual crystal cast HERE (there is a link in show description for podcast folks) I hope you’ll follow the blog come along as this new reading evolves.

If Short Sip Tarot posts are a contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee, Crystal Cast posts are a few brain waves for your week in the time it takes to sip from your tea. My intent is to post these either Sunday evenings or Monday morning. Maybe. More or less. Which brings me to the fall and winter schedule:

There is none.

I’m not going to try and fit into an announced schedule anymore. What you see is what you get or wizzy wig as the old school computer programmers used to say it. It is what it is and you see it all as it happens. Intuition, psychic readings and Tarot readings are all very much a product of their present moment. I want my cyberspace presence to authentically reflect that in-the-moment process. This is about quality, not quantity. Writing in the moment whenever that moment happens gives you the best of my intuition. Everything I do here is with the intent that it comes to you in the time and place and way that is highest and best for you. I don’t have to write on a set schedule or use a pre-set scheduler for the universe to bring you and your energy message together.

Which happens.

All of the time.

Most of the time, actually, The likes or comments for a post or podcast episode often trickle in long after it was first published. The internet is forever as they say. You never know when someone will stumble onto one of these collective energy readings. When I write in my moment, whenever that is, then you get the best message for you in your moment, whenever that turns out to be.

When I first rebranded from Modern Oracle to TaoCraft Tarot back in 2018, I blogged about the reasons for the name change. At its core, it was about authenticity. TaoCraft is a transparent, honest expression of what my Tarot work is really all about. It was about bringing the cyberspace aesthetics in alignment with the real me; a little witchy and heavily influenced by Taoist philosophy.

All along, under both names, I tried to follow all the good professional advice about best media and marketing practices.

It didn’t work.

Halloween is said to be the witches new year. Intuitively, autumn feels right for wrapping up some things and starting other things, like a new school year – or a new business attitude.

Owning my own business was never the goal. Don’t get me wrong – I need the money as much as the next person, but I’m not out to build a media company or be ridiculously famous. I’m here to communicate, to teach and above all, to inspire. I’m a Tarot reader, a Tarot writer, artist and intuitive. This is real, sincere and authentic Tarot. It’s not a side hustle. It’s not any kind of hustle. It’s artistry and craftsmanship. It is all about quality over quantity.

August and September were the hustle’s last gasp. Did you hear all of the sawing and air wrench sounds? I’ve tweeked a few things around here , but mostly I’m fully embracing the Adam Savage quote of “follow the process, not the plan.”

No more schedule for posts, podcasts or social media. Creativity happens when it happens. Spirit whispers as it does and energy moves as it moves. My job is to honor that process and that spirit and that energy. My job is to translate and communicate that spirit and energy…not bend it to an announced schedule. Serving authenticity in this way will elevate my experience of this work and in turn elevate the quality of the readings you receive, both public and private.

After three pandemic years of few to no party appearances, I’m closing that part of the business. I’m all about individual readings now, either privately in person, privately by email (still my specialty), or from me to you by way of the blog, pod and social media.

Starting in January all in-person appointments will be on Mondays, because of non-Tarot reasons. If you can’t meet on a Monday, we can work live online through a Zoom call at another time that works for both of us. Both online and in-person are by appointment anyway.

Purchases are all through my ko-fi page now. It is a MUCH easier checkout process, still secured by PayPal. You can check out and submit your question in one super-easy seamless process.

In person sessions can pay cash in exact change at the time of the reading (I don’t carry cash or make change) OR you can pre-pay through the ko-fi shop. When you pre-purchase the in-person session you get an instant download .pdf with general instructions a free sample chapter from one of my upcoming ebooks.

Email Tarot readings are still my specialty. I’m psychic, and I’m a writer. I’m a psychic writer, I suppose. But I’m not a marketer or media maven. I’m not a hustle. I’m not a clinical therapist. I’m not a healer. I’m a muse for your ideas and messenger for your spirit guides to help inspire personal growth and creative problem solving. Forget predicting the future. Claiming your personal power and growing as a human being is what this style of Tarot is about. If you want next-level inspiration, I’m here to help. If you want to predict the future, might I suggest one of those 8-ball toys? To be blunt, this is Tarot for grown-ups and for people who want to grow.

Grown-ups tend to be practical. We work smarter, not harder, so all of the practical advantages of email Tarot are HERE on the website.

In fact, the blog website has pretty much everything about TaoCraft Tarot. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.

Thanks for reading and listening. I appreciate any questions, comments, likes, follows or shares you can spare.

See you at the next sip!

In Time

A few thoughts on the Two of Pentacles and the time-space continuum.

Lau Tzu, Ben Franklin and Dirk Gently walk into a bar…

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here. These short sip posts & episodes are Tarot contemplations in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

It sounds a little like some sort of bad “walks into a bar” joke, but the Tao Te Ching, Benjamin Franklin and Dirk Gently all factor into the collective energy today.

Before we get to today’s Two of Pentacles card, I want to thank Madam Adam on Tik Tok for reminding me of the word collective. “Collective energy” really is the perfect way to describe how these general audience reading for social media or a blog feel. It is a much better word for it than the “zeitgeist” or “general audience” energy that I was calling it. It simplifies and clarifies the message when we can refer to ‘the collective’ in the way that energy often refers to the client or sitter or seeker or quierant or whatever word you like to use there. So with thanks for the reminder. Collective is the new adjective.

OK. Back to the collective energy and our unlikely trio of loosely related ideas, all of which comes back to the Two of Pentacles, our penultimate balance card second only to Temperance in the major arcana.

I doubt Benjamin Franklin was influenced by the Tao Te Ching quote “Nature does not hurry, yet all is accomplished” when he wrote that “haste makes waste” but I like to think he would have enjoyed the Tao Te Ching, not to mention the Dirk Gently novels or my personal favorite, the 2016 Max Landis TV adaptation with Dirk’s whispery, excited “everything’s connected.”

Everything IS connected.

The haste and hurry that Franklin and Lau Tzu talk about both are inseparable from physical space and the passage of time. It is science and physics – velocity is distance divided by time. The stars we see in our sky are boggle-your-mind old because they are boggle-your-mind far away and it has taken that long for the light to get here. Time, space, human perception, human activity, haste and waste are all, you know, connected.

Now lets walk around to the other side and look at this from a psychological or spiritual point of view instead.

When do you get stressed? How does time or the perceived lack of it factor into those stressful feelings for you? It seems like excess demands and looming deadlines play an outsized role in perceived stress. We have too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it. How much is too much varies from one person to another, but too much for you is too much however much that much may be.

Sooner or later, something has to give. It’s better to change the circumstances than have the circumstances change your mental or physical health.

You know how when you are resizing an image in a photo editor you can grab a corner and it keeps the proportions the same? The length and the width are connected and if you change one, the other changes right along with it. That is the kind of connectivity that we are talking about here. And that connectivity can be used to improve stress and life balance just as much as it may have helped cause it.

Too much stuff to do? Change that and your perception of time slides right along with it to a more comfortable state of being. That idea of triage and prioritizing and cutting out the unnecessary is a Ten of Wands thing, but it applies here because that is the means and method of finding the balance that the Two of Pentacles is referencing. In this scenario, if we were doing a multiple card layout, the Ten of Wands may well appear as a way to support the Two of Pentacle’s message.

Time passes.

There isn’t anything we can do to stop that, but how we measure time is completely arbitrary and under our control. Deadlines? Move them. If there are bad consequences to doing that, then the deadline might be the better option. If you look at it from a consequence perspective, then your schedule may not shift, the amount of activity needed may not shift, but instead our perception shifts. The deadline and work level may be better than the alternatives. It may all still suck, but it sucks less when you deliberately choose it compared to something worse. Perception isn’t a physical shift, but it is a shift toward increasing balance and decreasing stress just the same.

*sips coffee*

Which is all well and good, but what about the Two of Pentacles here, now, today.

I guess what all of this is saying is that when you are feeling stressed or out of balance, change and adapt what you can, and the rest of it will flex in the direction of less stress because everything is connected, haste makes waste and Nature never hurries and yet all is accomplished.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. The blog and podcast are not monetized, so that your Tarot message is first priority, not an advertiser’s message. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi where the shop purchases, readings, memberships and virtual coffees all support the creation of this unique Tarot content. There is a link in the episode description for podcast listeners.

Your likes, subs, shares, questions and comments are always welcome and appreciated too. Thanks again. See you at the next sip.

$1 Tarot Reading by email – get yours HERE before they ghost on Halloween 2022.

Ugh – you again

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Want a personalized sip? They are available, in the no appointment needed email readings.

Sometimes apathy is an accomplishment.

Hi and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

This card again. Ugh.

I don’t know if this is true of all professional readers, but I have a couple of cards that are my arch nemesis. They poke a bony finger at old sensitive scars and rub salt in spots that still aren’t all they could be. For me, the hierophant is defininitely one of those nemesis cards, if not THE nemesis card. It isn’t clinically correct, but a common, understandable way to say it that this bad boy is triggering.

Or you could say it is a pain in the ass. Either one works for me.

Either one is Tarot at its best doing its best thing. Tarot really isn’t about blowing happy smoke up your aura or making you feel good. It is about holding a mirror up to what we are doing in life at the same time it is giving context to the nonsense. Sure, Tarot inspires and empowers, but that is only part of it. Sometimes part of the healing, helping, inspiring and empowering process is to challenge us.

A good friend will tell you when your zipper is down or there is spinach stuck in your teeth. Tarot is a good friend. Both best friends and Tarot decks are truth tellers and support systems all rolled into one.

It is standard issue boiler plate advice that when a Tarot card keeps turning up in a reading that it signifies a lesson that we haven’t learned, an aspect of life that keeps coming around until we finally deal with it in the right way.

I wonder if it isn’t part desensitization therapy too. I don’t know if this is legit, or if it is a disproven trope, but at one point people would manage specific phobias, flying for example, by gradually increasing small exposures to the thing that triggered their anxiety until they were inured enough to the trigger that it wasn’t a problem anymore. In other words, repeated exposure helped them let go of the fear inducing thing by repeating the thing until they were just sick and tired and totally over it.

That’s kind of how I feel about the Hierophant today. I wonder, what card or what issue in life are all of you completely over? The religious imagery and symbolism in the Pamela Smith artwork for the RWS deck isn’t trigger-y for everyone, but to my minds it begs the question: What is your personal IDGAF totally over it topic today?

Whatever it is, celebrate your accomplishment of attaining a state of apathy. Celebrate your apathy about that thing that used to send you up a wall and over an edge, whatever that is for you individually. If you can’t think of anything like that, then it may just not be the right time for you to take on your triggers. Or maybe you are one of the fortunate ones who don’t have a nemesis card or maybe you just don’t need this message today. Either way, it’s all good. Despite what the dogmatic religious folk might think, nature is unfolding as it should.

If it does apply, however, enjoy your apathy. You’ve earned it.

Thanks so much for reading and listening! Any likes, subs, follows, shares, questions or comments you can spare is much appreciated. I’d also appreciate it if you’d take a look at the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page where the exclusive content memberships, shop purchases, private email Tarot readings, and virtual coffees all help me create these non-monetized, free to access (almost) daily Tarot readings for you.

Enjoy your weekend. Next sip comes Monday. See you then!

source unknown

Do for you

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, the eight of pentacles and the stuff you do for you.

Welcome to Tao Craft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the eight of pentacles, which points to work and productivity.

Which is too bad because I’m a lazy, lazy girl this morning.

Headphones on, listening to one of my favorite playlists on Spotify, drinking coffee and writing about Tarot (or knitting) is pretty much my happy place. Life is good at the moment.

But life isn’t always comfy chairs and cinnamon latte.

Shit happens, and when it does, empty platitudes and pep talks are no help whatsoever. Today’s energy could too easily slip into that. On the surface it could sound like some kind of suck it up buttercup, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps puritanical platitude.

Today’s energy isn’t suggesting that you can just cheer up, work hard and everything will be ok. Far from it.

It is suggesting that there is a whole world of coping mechanisms out there. A healthy lifestyle is something that you do for you. The emphasis today is on the word DO. Work isn’t all bad. The hack is finding the right kind of thing do for where your head is at.

When I saw the card, it reminded me of another life long ago in a galaxy far far away. One of the psychiatrists I used to work for back in my long abandoned physician assistant days always said that a job is as good as therapy. It wasn’t for all of the toxic anti-welfare, racism tinged, right-wing-ish reasons that might spring to mind these days. He was talking about structure, diversion, and self esteem.

As supportive as structure and getting something – anything – done in a day can be, I’m not talking about actual depression or real world problems here.

The same kind of advice about structure, diversion and accomplishment re-emerged during pandemic quarantine. For the average person under stress or in the occasional normal doldrums, accomplishing something – anything – in your day can be the little boost that you need. The degree varies from individual to individual and from day to day. Some of us secretly get off on going mach 2 with our hair on fire. For others, fresh pajamas and getting the dishes done is enough.

Self care is as much about mindset as action. For some people self care and a mood boost is all bubble baths and candle light. For others it is turning up the punk rock and cleaning the house. Anything, even being productive at some kind of work or project, can be self care.

The point in all of this is to do the thing that is right for you and your day in the amount that is right for your needs…but for goodness’ sake do SOMETHING. It might make you feel better than you think it will. Even if you are a lazy, lazy person like me.

Like everything for me, it gets back to Zen and Taoist philosophy akin to the old adage “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” Self care and stress management doesn’t have to be fancy, high minded or separate from life. Like Zen spirituality, self care and stress management is all about the moment to moment mundane living of life.

If you will allow me to indulge in a moment of fangirling, Madam Adam, one of my favorite social media follows, put it absolutely brilliantly. It was spot-on perfect when I first his post yesterday, and the eight of pentacles this morning confirms it. As he said “self-care is doing what you do anyway, but doing it with intent.”

Bullseye!

Through simple intention, anything can be self care including a day of work and productivity. Through simple intention, the mundane becomes magick.

Thanks for reading and listening! I always appreciate any likes, subs, follows, shares, questions or comments you can give.

For those of you listening on the podcast, a link to the blog website are in the episode description. You can find episode transcripts, private readings to purchase and other non-podcast Tarot content there.

If you are enjoying the blog or podcasts, please visit support them through the TaoCraft Tarot page on Ko-fi. Your virtual coffees, shop purchases and memberships contribute to the web hosting and few basic costs that it takes to create this Tarot content for everyone.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip.

Anchor Rock

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Want a whole cuppa Tarot all your own? Private readings with the blog author are available by email and can be ordered 24/7 no appointment needed

Welcome to the blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. If you are enjoying these blog posts and podcast episodes, I hope you will visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on K0-fi and consider becoming a patron of the Tarot arts. The link is in the episode description for podcast listeners. Proceeds from the ko-fi shop and memberships all support the creation of posts and episodes like this one. Thank you so much for your support. Your likes, subs, follows, shares, questions and comments are always, always, always welcome and appreciated!

Let’s start today with one of my favorite ideas on the planet: wabi sabi.

No, it isn’t that green paste that comes with sushi, although I like THAT a lot too.

As I understand it, wabi sabi is a philosophy and an aesthetic that values things as they are and sees beauty in natural, spontaneous imperfections and asymmetries. Old but valued ceramics are preserved and repaired with great care, sometimes highlighting the repairs with precious metals. I’m no expert. I’m not even average-level knowledgeable about Japanese or Chinese thought or culture. All I know is that everything I’ve ever learned about Taoism, Zen and wabi sabi has helped me to live a better life and be a better person. For that, I am deeply grateful. These ideas have time and time and time again proven to be my unshakable rock in every storm, just like the rock and anchor on today’s card, the Hope card from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck.

Speaking of spontaneous imperfections, the card is mislabeled in the video. The intuitive message from the card was, however, clear, concise and clairaudient (meaning the intuition came as mental words this time instead of the usual clairvoyant mental images.) It came in two parts.

First, “Storms will always come.”

The first noble truth of Buddhism is the truth of suffering. First on the list of world religions on that old 80’s T shirt is Taoism with the assertion that “shit happens.” Things break. Things are uneven. Stuff happens and sooner or later storms always come.

And it’s beautiful, because it is alive and it is real.

L’esperance, as the card is actually named, is a French word meaning hope. Storms will come. Sometimes the only hope is to find a rock and hang on.

The second half of the clairaudient message is “Know your rock.”

A paramedic instructor once told me that if you prepare for the emergency, then the emergency goes away. The same thing applies here. Knowing which ideas and philosophies you can trust makes life’s inevitable stress just that much less intimidating. Question everything. When it comes to beliefs or dogma or other peoples unsupported assertions, questioning is invaluable. It may take a trial by skeptical fire to find out what really is your philosophical storm shelter. If you know your rock, if you know where to find your anchor when the storm comes then you just might make it through to the other side intact enough to glue things back together and paint the cracks with gold.

I’m not here to tell you what your rock or your anchor is or should be. It is difficult, if not impossible for one person to determine that for another. The things I was taught as a child should be my strength and stronghold crumbled to dust and nothing at first contact with adulthood. I’ve since learned that it is much better to scout out the territory for yourself. Trust yourself to know what gives you hope. Trust yourself to lean on ideas and know what holds you up and what doesn’t. Explore new ideas and challenge old ones. Give them all a good hard kick and see if they hold strong for you. If they do, grab on because storms will always come and it pays to know your rock.

Thank you so much for listening. See you at the next sip.

L’Esperence (Hope) image from the Fancy Minchiate Tarot, cited copyright “BnF” This card from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck by Publishing Goblin LLC, used with permission.

Making donuts

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Today’s card is the Knight of Pentacles.

One of the best clues that your wrinkled backside is getting older is when you get the references that old an old commercial made when people younger than you don’t remember the ad making the reference.

Way back in the 1980s, a certain very popular and rather delicious donut chain had a tv ad where a hardworking and longsuffering baker would plod out of the front door ridiculously early in the morning because it was “time to make the donuts.” This repeated until one time he opens the door to find – himself coming home.

Never mind any jokes about him “finding himself, ” I don’t know how many people remember the “Time to make the donuts” commercial much less the visual reference to the phrase “meet yourself coming and going” which is an old school way of saying that you are so busy and bothered and working so hard and moving so fast that well,you meet yourself coming and going. Which is pretty sci fi violate-the-time-space continuum notion for the ancient before times if you think about it.

But anyway – donuts.

Beside the fact that donuts are a pure soul-level goodness in and of themselves especially when paired with a cup of coffee, the making the donuts thing speaks to the knight of pentacles and today’s Monday morning energies.

Some days are mystical and magical and ideal for contemplating the spiritual. Other days are for just doing, focusing purely on the physical. Some days are for frenetic effort where you meet yourself coming and going. Other days are for regular, reliable and routine donut making. Today feels like the latter type to me. Pentacles are earth element, focused on practicality, the physical realm, work and career. Knights are symbolic of action and activity. Put them both together and you have a reminder that it is time to make the donuts.

Sometimes the simplest donuts are the best. They all don’t have to be jelly filled with sprinkles on top. Some days there is nothing better than a no-frills sour cream old fashioned.

The word “plodding” comes to mind. Pamela Smith uses the posture of the horses to communicate the energies of the knight cards. This guy is standing still, as opposed to the full gallop you see on the knight of swords card. This is another reference to the solid, rooted, balanced, grounded energy that the Pentacle cards posses.

Not every moment has to be joyful. Not every moment has to be tragic. Some moments you just make your donuts without any drama. That resonates with the Taoist notion of wu wei, accomplishment without undue effort. Just because it isn’t a big struggle doesn’t make it lesser. Donuts that were easy and routine to make taste just as sweet.

By the same token, it’s not about doing nothing at all. It’s not about being neglectful and careless and just phoning in the bare minimum. Bakers who make donuts like that won’t stay in business for very long. The Knight of Pentacles today captures an energy of wu wei, of doing what needs to be done and doing it well but without a lot of unnecessary fuss or bother. It’s a day of making easy but excellent donuts.

Thank you so much for listening! Your support for this blogcast through Tarot reading purchases, likes, subs, shares, follows and Tarot Table memberships is always, always appreciated.

Just a reminder that things are going to be a little chaotic this week on the blogcast and on social media. For example, if I do a “You Choose Interactive Tarot” reading at all this week it will probably be tomorrow. Maybe. It’s spring break 2022 at our house so social media is low on my priority list. Email Tarot readings, however, are the same always. Email Tarot is open and available to purchase 24/7 without appointment.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

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Today’s Tarot: After the Fall

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Zombie Cat is back! He lives year round on the ‘no appointment needed’ Tarot page, but he’s front page news during Spooky Season with $5 of a yes/no reading by email. STILL no appointment needed – order anytime, 24/7

Ask Zombie Cat ANYTHING. He’ll make it yes/no and give you the straight answer, not matter what it is. Zombie Cat’s yes/no readings have a 100% gaurantee of containing some words and 50% chance of being dead wrong.